Future Past?
by Starsinger
Summary: What if all of Kate and Peter Rasputin's children hadn't died in the Sentinel Concentration Camp? It's finished, and the Sentinels are done
1. Timeline

October 31, 1980-Senator Kelly is assassinated along with Moira MacTaggart. For these purposes Xavier will have been among the dead as well. Mystique and the Brotherhood are the assassins.

1984-Running on an anti-mutant campaign, a rabid mutant hater is elected President. His Slogan: Do you know what your children are?

1985-Peter and Kitty marry, I know, she's young, but I've got a short time-line to work with. Mutant Registration Act becomes law. Sentinel program officially starts.

1986-Andrei is born. After a brief, if futile period of complying with the law, mutants and other super powered being begin to rebel.

1988-1996-Michael, Ilyana and Moira, Jennifer, and Rachael are all born. The rebel groups are being wiped out one by one.

1991-USSR starts slow, but inexorable slide toward a democracy. USA heads in opposite direction

1995-NATO allies itself with USSR. Freedom of Religion, Speech, and Assembly are suppressed as people start to question the constitutionality of the camps

2001-Most super-humans in the USA are either dead, underground, or in camps

2003-Illness sweeps through the camps, thousands die including the two children who made it out with Kate and Peter. The UN, in absolute disgust moves its headquarters from New York to Geneva, Switzerland as the Sentinels take over both Canada and Mexico. Little known documents disappear from the Smithsonian and reappear in the USSR, along with its director. These documents are taken to heart by the Soviet People who proclaim all are equal, human and mutant.

2009-Rachael's puberty is sped up by a retro-virus and she is taken away to be a hound.

2010-A group calling themselves the Rangers are formed as a resistance in Texas (I know, big surprise, I am from Texas and like that this would extend the mystique). Made up of both human and mutant fighters their leader is powerful and unknown.


	2. Escape

Escape

by Starsinger

aka That Elephant sitting in the living room (thank you Amokitty). What if all the Rasputin children didn't die in the Sentinel concentration camp? Nope, still don't own them.

The mansion was on fire. Kate and Peter hurriedly rounded the kids up. Getting them out the door wasn't the hard part. The smoke was thick and Peter powered up, carrying many of the kids himself. The fire and smoke wouldn't touch him. Jennifer whimpered in her mother's arms. Andrei had managed to grab Rachael on the way out. Gunfire could be heard in the distance.

Kate glanced around, suddenly realizing that not everyone had made it out. "Peter!" she screamed, "Michael, Moira, Yana, and Stasia! They're not here!" Kate started toward the school and stopped, men surrounded them, guns aimed at them. Helplessly, they watched as the school collapsed under the weight of the fire.

Peter watched as she collapsed to the ground, unable to do anything but watch, the children around them being their primary concern. That and the guns being pointed right at them. "All right, mutant scum!" barked one of them. "Don't resist and no one will be hurt!"

Kate glared at them as they clamped inhibitor collars around her neck, tears streamed down her face as she glared at him, "No more lies, sergeant, my children are in there."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," several others were visibly shaken by her words. They rounded them up and marched them into a waiting truck.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I remember that day well_, Ilyana Rasputin, middle child of Kate and Peter Rasputin, would recall much later. _Mother woke us up. My twin sister, Moira, and I had just turned fourteen. Our brothers, Michael and Andrei, and sisters Anastasia and Jennifer were asleep as well. There was smoke everywhere, the school was on fire. The sprinklers weren't workin__g, nor were the fire alarm. In the chaos Moira, Michael, __Stasia__ and I were separated from our parents and cornered by a fire. Five students were trapped with us. I discovered my mutant power that night._

They were cornered, the fire flared up around them, men in masks appeared outside. Stasia started crying, they were dead.

_I got so mad, those mutant haters were winning, it wasn't right. Suddenly, a bright light appeared around us and we were no longer in New York. In fact, it was very cold and we were in our pajamas._

"Mama! Mama! I saw a bright light!" a young voice announced.

"Don't make things up, Ilyana," an older female voice answered, opening the door. She gasped as she saw ten young people sprawled outside in the snow. "Nikolai, there are children out here!"

_Our parents had taught us Russian, so we communicated easily with them. In my panic, I suddenly realized, I had used my newly manifested mutant power to teleport us as far away from home I could think of, Siberia. We would be safe, for now. They took us in and we collapsed, we all wondered what had happened to our family._

This will be either brilliant, or complete ship wreck, let me know what you think!


	3. Tears

Tears

by Starsinger

I built a timeline on which much of this is based. Some of it has an actual basis in Marvel lore (the date of Senator Kelly's death) others, ideas I'm playing with. Nope, still don't own them.

_On October 31, 1980 Senator Kelly was assassinated by Mystique and other members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They saw Kelly as a threat to Mutant-kind. What doesn't get mentioned is the fact that Dr. Moira MacTaggart, a human friend of the X-Men, and Professor Charles Xavier, were also killed that day. A call went out after that day for mutant registration, but no one was willing to repeat the past mistakes and become Nazis, this was never done._

_In 1984 an anti-mutant candidate ran on the platform, "It's 1984, do you know what your children are?" He won. He promised mutant registration and control. Everyone worried what this meant, but still went on with their lives. My parents, Kate and Peter Rasputin, married the next year.__ My parents decided they wanted a family and quickly, Andrei was born in 1986. Moira and I followed soon after, with Michael, Anastasia, and Jennifer following. After years of battling infertility, Jean and Scott Summers finally had a baby girl, Rachael, the same year Jennifer was born in 1996.__ The school still thrived, in spite of all the controversy that surrounded it. Our community supported us, often helping us celebrate and mourn. We did a lot of mourning._

_In 1986 the Mutant Registration Act became law and the Sentinel program officially began. I say officially, there are those who believe that it started years earlier after Senator Kelly's death. We registered, we complied, and then rumors started. They wouldn't let us stay in our homes. Camps were being built, and groups that were once called heroes were branded as "enemy combatants." The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and so many others were wiped out. Franklin Richards came to the school after the deaths of his parents in 1995. Protests started as mutants and those who simply carried the mutant gene were carted away to concentration camps. As a result Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and Religion were all suppressed in 1995. NATO allied itself with the USSR at that point, seems they were actually becoming a democracy, while the USA was headed in a whole different direction._

_Somehow, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights disappeared from the Smithsonian and wound up in Russia during this period. No one has made any move to retrieve them. In 2001 they attacked the school__ and I teleported ten of us to freedom._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alexandra counted ten children. Ilyana and Nikolai spent the better part of the night warming them up with blankets and hot toddies, as the English would put it. They managed to establish that four of them were their own grand-children, who, fortunately, all spoke Russian. The horrifying tale that poured from their mouths prompted them to get one of their neighbors to call for their eldest son, Mikhail. The small family watched helplessly as the kids huddled by the fire silent tears running down their faces.

"They can't go back, Mama, they'll kill them," Ilyana announced.

Alexandra sighed at the truth of it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The residents of Salem Center sifted through the ruins of the school. The robots had finally left. One of the women wept quietly. These people were friends, and a few bodies were found among the charred remains of the building. Jean and Scott Summers were among them.

"Why are we standing for this?" Sam asked. He had been the groundskeeper for the school since he lost his job the year before. The school had employed many of the people after the economy had begun to plummet. "These were our friends."

His wife, Wanda, responded, "I saw only three children with Kate and Peter, and one of them was Rachael."

That very day the people of Salem Center New York joined the resistance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Rasputin's oldest son came the next day with Soviet officials. The slide toward democracy had included the Soviet Union becoming more of a confederacy. A loosely allied collection of nations, they saw a common purpose in opposing the Sentinels. The first decision was that the kids would not be returned to the USA. They called Brian Braddock who came and collected the ones who weren't related to Nikolai and Alexandra.

As for the rest of them, they were recorded as the natural children of Mikhail and his late wife, Natasha. Mikhail had placed the kids with his parents after his wife's death. By 2002 the whole family was moved off the farm and into Moscow. Ilyana was a teleporter and showed sufficient talent as a dancer to continue her lessons. Anastasia repeated her mother's performance and found herself on the living room floor. The living room floor of a neighbor, three floor's down from the apartment in which they lived. The neighbor took it in good humor; the majority of the inhabitants of the building were mutants.

Mikhail waited till he was fifteen to manifest. He and his girlfriend, Natalya, were making out on her parents couch when she decided to get more comfortable. The removal of her top caused such embarrassment that he powered up. Well, he thought, one of would inherit his father's power. Moira wasn't a mutant, but had, indeed, inherited, her mother's intelligence. She had gravitated toward psychiatry. Then word came down. Illness had swept through the camps containing mutants in 2003, thousands died. Instead of trying to cure the sickness, the Sentinels moved against Mexico and Canada, taking them over quickly and moving mutants into more camps. The UN moved to Geneva, Switzerland, and the rest of the world became more frightened of the robots than the super-humans in their midst.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kate collapsed at the gravesite. Jennifer and Andrei were both dead in the waves of sickness. No one cared. They were just mutants. All of her babies were dead. Rachael clung to her side, whimpering. Peter stood over them tears sliding down his face, his family was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_In 2003 the Russian Confederation declared that all people are equal, and mutants would stand as much a chance to contribute as everyone. Mutants and humans worked together to start resistance groups to fight the Sentinels. It was held that they wouldn't stop at the borders of the North American continent__ so they started to train guerilla groups. Their tactics were based on the Afghani freedom fighters, the Mujahideen they would infiltrate the USA in small groups and wreak as much havoc as they could_

_We just prayed it wasn't too late._

The rest of the time line will work itself out as the story goes on. If you're interested, I'll give you the website where it's actually up.


	4. Plans

Plans

by Starsinger

Nope, still don't own them. Oh, by the way, Schlitterbahn is still the best water park in the world, even if I've never been there.

_By__ the year 2010 many things had changed. The resistance in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico solidified. Many finding young mutants and making sure they got out before the Sentinels found them. Meanwhile, the cities began to deteriorate. The daily grind of the every day people became__ worse as famine and disease became their constant companions. They never stopped fighting. They managed to get word to us that the Sentinels would be moving out no later than 2013._

_In Russia our family grew. My brother and sisters married and started having children. Moira, now called Marina for her own protection, graduated from medical school and helped with the refugees as they came out. I couldn't help but wonder about my parents and siblings we were forced to leave behind._

Ilyana stepped from her transport and peered at the sign. It used to be a water park that much she could tell. So much of the infrastructure had deteriorated since the Sentinels had taken over. Whatever the name was it had worn down to a single "S". "New Braunfels," she said to herself. "Strange place to find the leader of the Rangers."

Deep in the interior of Texas, New Braunfels was once known for what was considered the best water park in the world. Now, it was in ruins, like most of the country. She sighed as someone cleared his throat behind her. "We meet here because there's a major waterway running through here. It connects us with the coast."

Ilyana turned to find a tall, powerfully built black man standing behind her. "Von Starr," she asked. He nodded. "I'm Ilyana Rasputin."

"You're English is very good," he replied. "I heard you were Russian."

Ilyana winced, she'd forgotten the accent, "My uncle, Piotr, taught me before Xavier's was destroyed." He nodded as they walked to the interior of the ruined park.

"I was told to expect two of you."

Ilyana smiled, "My sister, Anastasia, was supposed to accompany me. She went into labor last night, so she wasn't going anywhere. I have a new nephew!"

He grinned, "Congratulations! The Sentinels have restricted breeding. If you carry the mutant gene, even if you're not a mutant, you can't breed." She noticed the big, black "M" tattooed over his right eye. "It's been eight years since Xavier's was destroyed. They've created 'hounds' to track down mutants. We've even received word they're preparing to move against the rest of the world." People joined them men and women, mutants and humans.

"You've put together this group? Why do you call yourself Von Starr?"

"Texas Rangers were a legend in their time. Criminals would not cross them wisely. Here, in New Braunfels, is where a large German population settled in the nineteenth century. Look, we need to get some new manifests out, some of them are telepaths and they're the ones being used as hounds…"

Ilyana nodded at the wisdom of the statement. This was the reason she'd come, to get the kids out. She turned to him as the children gathered nearby, saying good-bye to their parents, "HE wants to meet with you, Von Starr, but not today, later this month, and you know how to get in touch with us."

He nodded as she walked to a clear enough spot that would hold all of her passengers, "With all the work you do bringing new people and equipment in line, I picture you more of a forge than a star." She disappeared with those words lingering behind.

"Forge, huh?" he muttered to himself as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and headed out of the park, "I'll have to think about that one."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ilyana dropped everyone off at Braddock Manor, and traveled back to her home in Russia. The hospital in Moscow had a landing pad that also served as a training point for teleporters and flyers. Well, it cut down on accidents anyway. She ran into Mikhail outside the entrance. He had been good to them, even when he did get married and start having his own children. He was as much a father as her real one had ever been.

"Grandpa again, huh?" she said with a grin.

Mikhail smiled back at her. "That makes five. Twins must run in your mother's side of the family."

Ilyana bit back the pain; she had no idea if it did. When she was last with her mother, that sort of thing didn't seem so important. "Ranger Von Starr knows about the planned meeting. Is three years really enough time?" Doubt colored her tone.

"It has to be," he replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_It has to be, tho__se words still echo across time, and sometimes brilliance runs in families. Generals Montgomery, Zukov, and Rommel came together to plan the freedom of millions, and the defense of millions more._

"We have fifteen large group teleporters," Zukov began. "We need to figure out how many they can transport and where it's best to place the groups."

Rommel looked up, "A group of mutants located in New York is planning on attacking the Baxter Building. They're hoping to take out the headquarters building and send them into disarray. We're sending several groups in through Mexico, it'll be a long way on foot, but it's the best way to sneak them in. The natives there built tunnels into the United States before everything changed."

Monty shook his head, "Smuggling, well, they're nothing if not resourceful. So, we've got groups coming in from Canada, Mexico, and New York. Are you sure they're not expecting us to use mutants?"

Zukov snorted, "They're moving out because they think we're just as scared of mutants as they are." They all nodded and moved out; they had people to contact and location to scout.

_Of course my aunt and I were recruited; we were familiar with upstate New York. Three times a week we teleported guerilla groups in who were kept underground by families fighting for their freedom. No one was sure if it would work. We could only pray that it would. I wanted to see these camps for myself. I wanted to see where they'd buried my family. I wanted to make them pay for that night._


	5. Interlude

Interlude

by Starsinger

The survivors return to Xavier's. No, still don't own them.

_2013-Days of the Future Past_

There were six of them now, two of their number had been lost to the war against the Sentinels. They never stopped fighting, and today, they would remember why they kept fighting. Ilyana stepped to the center of the circle and called the disk. Anastasia, Moira, Michael and the others looked at her as the light flashed around them.

It had been thirteen years since they had fled the mansion in terror in the smoke filled night, parents, teachers and friends left behind, maybe even dead. As the light faded, they stared around them in sorrow. The land had been reclaimed by the overgrowth. Trees ran wild and the occasional sound of a wolf could be heard in the distance. A deer paused at the edge of the wood.

In the distance they saw the rundown buildings that had once been the stately homes of Salem Center. The attack that night caused most of those living in the area to flee. They turned to where the school once stood. A ruin stood where they once called home. A single wall rose out of the foundation, evidence of the fire lined the foundation as black soot still stained the floor.

Stasia walked over to what was left of the stoop and sat down, "Mommy," she whispered. Moira joined her, her arm becoming a comforting presence around her shoulders. The silence stretched out as they kept an eye out. They were supposed to meet someone from the Canadian Resistance here. Shadows loomed in the forest as their nerves were kept on edge, the enemy could be anywhere.

The rising sun hit the trees as a sudden glow burst from the trees. They scrambled for the relative safety of the ruins. A man strode from the edge of the forest, cigar in his clenched teeth. "Logan?" a voice asked from the right.

"Logan, I thought he was dead," Stasia whispered.

"It's me, Kiddoes," he growled. The years had not been kind to him. His grizzled appearance had become more drawn. "Welcome home."

Michael approached him, "My father gave me these. It'll help you neutralize the collars."

Logan gave him a knowing look, "You look like him. Thank you, we move against them in three days. If we don't succeed…"

Michael looked at him; the consequences of failure meant war, nuclear war. They couldn't fail. Logan turned his back and left, never to be seen by them again. In three days he, along with most of the remaining X-Men, would be dead, but they did succeed. Nuclear war was averted and the assault on North America would begin in earnest. The Sentinels had to be stopped.

They walked to the edge of the woods for a last look around. The dock still stood at Breakstone Lake. Someone would be down at a later date to see if the underground garage was still intact. No one voiced their fears, just the hope that they would win.


	6. War and Liberation

War and Liberation

by Starsinger

A/N: I had to look up technology available in 1984, when the economy would've started gearing towards war certain advances would not have occurred. E.g. The internet was created by the Department of Defense in the 60s, but was made public in the 90s by a Congress and a peacetime economy. Considering the state of New York City in Days of the Future Past, it would not have done so. Cell phones, PDAs, and other innovations in technology, science, and health would not be available here. It's kinda weird having to think low tech in 2013.

No, still don't own them.

_It's incredible. We've started the invasion, slowly and carefully we're slowly slipping people in. We're landing small groups at first, sneaking them into the jungles of Southern Mexico, and across the Arctic Circle into the tundra of Northern Canada. We lost many of the resistance leaders in that attack on the Baxter Building last month. No one's seen Wolverine since that meeting in upstate New York. The stories of the Concentration Camps coming out of survivors remind us of Hitler's Europe…_

Michael and several others looked down on the camp. They called these surgical strikes. They hit the camp, usually somewhere isolated and small, get out as many mutants as possible, and run like hell. Most of these camps were manned by humans, so casualties were to be avoided if at all possible. He had been in the first group landed in Northern Canada. This was personal, his life had been uprooted and torn apart when Xavier's had been attacked. They were going to pay.

Michael sat back on his haunches, binoculars hanging loosely in his right hand. His companions noticed that the bitter wind coming off the frozen tundra seemed to not even touch him. He cracked a grin, "I grew up in Siberia, this is nothing. Here we go," he muttered as the figure of an old woman approached the gates of the camp. The figure stopped at the gates, and a heated discussion seemed to ensue. The woman shuffled back a few steps as the gates opened to her. "That's the signal," Michael muttered as the team surged over the hillock.

It was over in minutes, most of the guards had become appalled at the conditions in the camp and simply gave up, a few were killed in the process. The true prize sat in the office of the compound, the commandant of the camp, Colonel Stryker. Michael stared at this man, this was the man who had robbed of him of his family as a child, and showed no remorse when he looked at the group. His look of horror came when he realized half the team was normal human.

Michael smiled in grim satisfaction, "Colonel Stryker, you are under arrest for crimes against humanity."

"Humanity?! I can't call you kind HUMAN!" he screamed at him.

Michael looked at him, "My name is Michael Rasputin. My parents were Kate and Peter Rasputin. I was one of ten students who escaped to Russia the night you set fire to Xavier's. I wish I could destroy your life the way you did mine, but I can only leave it to the international courts to decide." His aunt, Ilyana, entered the room. He nodded grimly as everyone exited the room. "I'll be back," he told Tom, his second-in-command. The man nodded. There would be celebration tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"WE GOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came the cry. People held their breaths as President Putin stepped up to the podium. "Colonel Stryker was captured today at the camp in North Carolina that he was running. He is no longer a threat to the people of this world." Cheers greeted his words and drowned out the rest of what he said.

The Rasputin children stood outside the cell, staring at the man they had hated for so long. They had heard his laughter the night the mansion burned to the ground. Now, he was simply pathetic. The master architect of mutant obliteration was now reduced to an orange jumpsuit and manacles. "How does it feel to be in chains and helpless, Colonel?" Ilyana asked.

_Over the year Colonel Stryker's involvement in the terror visited upon mutants had come to light. After President Liston was elected in 1984, Reverend Stryker had been contacted about controlling the "mutant problem". He set the plans in motion that he had started years earlier. As incredible as it seems, he collaborated with another mutant, Sebastian Shaw, in the creation of the Sentinel Program. It seems that Mr. Shaw thought the man could be controlled. Instead, he was one of Stryker's first victims. He didn't die, but when we found him, he was a broken man._

_Torture is a very effective terror technique. When Stryker couldn't get what he wanted, people suffered, or should I say, mutants suffered. Those he considered human were never hurt. __Trouble was__ his definition of "human" was even narrower than the robots he created. This is what caused so much hatred against him. People who would normally agree with him saw their families tortured and killed. Like most of the world, they became more frightened of him and the Sentinels than of Mutants. So, they joined the resistance._

_The most frightening aspect of his programs __were__ his Hounds. Mutant telepaths used to track down other mutants. He had put a man named Ahab in charge of the Hounds and they were ruthless. They were also the biggest reason teleporters were included with every team that held mutants. __No one wanted to be captured._

Stryker glared at them, "Mutant scum."

Moira approached the cell, "Really! Mutant Scum, hey, guess what, I'm NOT a MUTANT." He seemed to flinch away from the statement. "You know what, you're not worth it."

"Your mother is still alive," he suddenly blurted out. They stared at him in shock, Michael approached menacingly, "She was at the camp in New York City and was part of the team who attacked the Baxter Building. She survived along with Rachael Summers."

"Where is she?" Ilyana managed to choke out.

"I don't know. She never returned to the camp after the attack. We just know that she wasn't among the dead."

_So, we learned the truth. Mother was alive, and she probably thought we were dead. It was just as well, we were safe in Siberia. Now, we not only fought to free North America, but to find our mother. She had grand-children and deserved to know that we weren't all dead._

Next chapter, the final push into New York where we meet up with Excalibur (who Rachael brought into her reality to help) and Kate Pryde-Rasputin.


	7. Libertad

Libertad

by Starsinger

It's time to bring the Sentinels to their knees. If I remember correctly, Peter's middle name in DOFP was Andreivitch, not Nikolievitch. Nope, still don't own them.

_Incredibly, it took another three years to reach New York. As anxious as we were to find our mother, war was still a slow process. No one wanted to resort to nukes, the people weren't the danger, the robots were. Stryker was convicted of War Crimes and sentenced to hang. The world celebrated the night he died,__ and we still waited._

Moira and Ilyana climbed to the top of a hill overlooking what was left of the camp where most of their family died. They slowly found them. Jennifer and Andrei first, they had died of sickness. Jen had just been seven years old. Mikhail and Ilyana soon followed the remaining survivors of that night behind them. They also found their families. A soft voice finally came from the end of the long line of graves, "He's over here."

"Piotr Andreivitch Rasputin," Moira whispered. "So, he really is gone. Any sign of Mother?" soft "No's" and shaking of heads greeted this question. She sighed as she looked around, some of these names she barely remembered. "Rachael's isn't here either." They had liberated the hounds two weeks earlier. They had been sent back to England for reprogramming. They had been treated no better than dogs, and many of them had whimpered and cowered in the back of their cages when Moira approached. Normal humans terrified them, and that saddened Moira. She hoped she could meet up with Rachael, find out how she broke the programming. This "Ahab" had a lot to answer for.

Ilyana's voice snapped her out of her reverie, "Stasia, you have the key for the inhibitors?" As she looked around, people, mutants, emerged from the barracks where they still lived. Many sobbed, some simply stared. All looked like they hadn't seen a decent meal in years. "Call the other porters, we need to get these people out of here."

At first two hundred people filed by Anastasia as she freed them from the hated collars. Lisa, her assistant, jotted down their names, powers, and place of birth. One woman sobbed as she realized she was finally free. Some clutched children that weren't theirs, but were here because they, unlike their families, were mutants. As the day wore on, many more people emerged. Mutants were immediately ported out, while others were taken to the outer edge of the boroughs to be assessed and fed.

This was being played all over the continent: Liberation, assessment, and getting people out. This time, they had finally reached New York, Operation Lady Liberty was finally on its way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, as they climbed to the top of a large pile of rubble, they came across a group of mutants who had obviously not come from a camp, "Captain Britain?" Mikhail asked, startled. "I thought you were staying in England…" then it slowly dawned on him that this was not the Brian Braddock they knew. In fact one of the women with him looked like a much younger version of his mother. The glasses and large gun she toted made her look slightly menacing.

A young red-head came out of the group, "I'm Rachael Summers, this is a long story, but this is Excalibur. We're here to help."

"Have you seen our mother?" Ilyana blurted out. "Kate Pryde-Rasputin?"

Rachael stared at the group, realization dawning on her, finally, she took Michael by the hand and lead them a short distance away. "I thought you were dead," she whispered. "It's good to see you. Yes, that brunette with us is a much younger version of Kate." She rapidly explained to them what was going on. "In other words, we need to Kitty inside that complex. If anyone can reprogram the mainframe, it's her." They nodded and followed her.

Kitty and Stasia entered the compound as yet another battle waged outside, she heard the woman mutter, "This a lot lower tech than I'm used to," she smiled at the younger woman. "We're not run by robots in my reality. They worked quickly and finally plugged in a small handheld device into the computer. Stasia was so absorbed by what she was doing that she never realized that there was someone else in the room until she was being embraced. She turned to find her mother behind her.

"Mother," she barely whispered. She wrapped her arms around shoulder she had never thought to touch again. Kitty looked up and into the eyes of her future self. The deep lines and graying hair did not strike her soul as much as the deep, desperate sadness that was soon replaced by joy.

"We need to get out of here, the only way to guarantee that someone doesn't reprogram them after all this is to blow the place. I'm just glad you never developed the internet." They emerged from the building just as an argument erupted from the other side of the square. A man stood in front of the one of the robots, arguing with Rachael. He had no legs. He swung what appeared to be a weapon at Rachael when he was batted out of the way by the Sentinel behind him. No one could believe it, the robot declared that they would protect life, Kitty had been successful. The war was over, they had won.

Anastasia walked over, her arm firmly wrapped around her mother's waste. The others gathered around her, their family coming full circle. They heard a soft, plaintive voice sounded from behind them, "Kate?!" Two pairs arms reached around and gathered Rachael into the circle. Soon, separation again, Rachael and her friends needed to return to their own reality.

As for Kate she returned with her children to Russia. She sat in wonder in the apartment that had been their home when Alexandra and Nicolai moved with the children to Moscow. Mikhail and Ilyana came with their children and grand-children. In the next three days she visited the graves of their grand-parents. Caught up with her brother and sister-in-law, and was happy, after many, many years of misery.

_On the third day when we awoke, we discovered mother had slipped these earthly bonds to join her husband, friends, and children. We located the graves of Andrei, Jennifer, and Poppa and brought them back to be buried beside her. Their grave marker was from an old photograph taken before the fire. __Mother sat in a rocking chair, Father behind her__, Jennifer, a baby, lay in her arms and Andrei sat at her feet. We were all in this picture, but this was their memorial, not theirs._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Michael and Ilyana heard crunching noises as their shoes made their way across the frozen landscape. The piece of wall that had still been standing years ago was gone. All that was left of Xavier's was the foundation. They glanced around, their breath steaming in the chilly air. No words were spoken, aware that people were returning to the area and so was life.

They explored, unsure as to what they were looking forward, perhaps some sign that there had ever been a school here. Ilyana cried out in surprise, a lone brick lay in the snow. She picked it up and found herself staring at the original cornerstone laid when the school was originally built.

_That original cornerstone became part of the new building. They rebuilt, Xavier's Memorial School, turned into a school for both humans and mutants. No longer would suspicion and hatred be allowed to dominate the landscape, and terrorize the innocent. Statues were erected in what became a peace garden. They were sculpted after Ororo Munroe, Storm, in her former glory, and a local human who had died fighting the Sentinels. He carried a gun, and held out his hand in friendship to Storm. The world swore, "Never __Again__."_


	8. Full Circle

Full Circle

Okay, did you honestly think that that was the end? Okay, I'm not that mean, I think. Nope, still don't own it.

Rachael was bundled up against the New York cold, she had lived here a long time, one would think… She shook her head. She was looking for a baby shower gift, she thought she'd had it figured it out, but Ilyana and Moira decided they wanted to be first born. A store sign caught her eye, bringing her to a halt, "We Knew You Were Coming Antiques". She shook her head in silent laughter, "What the heck."

The bell above the door tinkled softly as she entered. The shop was dusty and little used. Lamps, chairs, tables, vases, and the usual assorted antiques littered the floor as an elderly man entered from a back room. He smiled as she puttered around, not really sure what she was looking for. Nothing obviously fit what she was shopping for until something in the back caught her eye.

Rachael picked up several small chairs and revealed her prize, a rocking chair that looked vaguely familiar. It looked slightly dusty, used, and had an odd, smoky smell to it. She turned to find the shopkeeper behind her, "How much?" she asked.

"For you, $120," he answered. Her eyes lit, it was in her budget. She bought it and started to pick it up. The elderly man insisted on helping her with it, she humored him, she could've just ported it to the SUV.

Rachael drove back to the school and waved down one of the students, getting him to help her get into the Common Room before Rogue returned with Kitty. Rogue showed up early that morning and managed to badger Kitty into going with her for a day at the spa. Everyone had waved them on their way, Kitty's stately waddle had become a fixture at the mansion in the recent months and so it was as they watched them drive away.

The student, Kevin if she remembered correctly, set the rocking chair down in the corner barely in time, they both heard the SUV pull up outside. "Hey, nice touch," Kevin exclaimed.

"Huh?" Rachael asked, looking around.

"You put her initials and the date on it, nice touch," Kevin said, departing the room.

Kitty entered the room, and exclaimed at all the gifts and friends gathered around. "Rachael, did you get this," she asked, absolutely delighted by the chair.

"Yes, it's my gift," she said, running her fingers over the carving in the chair, KPR followed by today's date, her eyes misted over as she thought of her friend and mentor. "Thank you, Kate."

Tell me what you think.


End file.
